Bringing you the high-speed motorcycle racing news & action from today with the race photos from yesterday & today.
Having followed AMA Flat Track, AMA Road Racing, WERA & various other series since the early to mid '70s, the adrenaline-fed rush still lives on.
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Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi put in a stunning effort today to take the second step on the podium for the Gran Premio de España at the Jerez circuit in Southern Spain. A record crowd of 117,000 people were present to witness the Doctor’s fight for his second podium honours of the season in extremely hot conditions with track temperatures reaching 50 degrees.

Starting from fourth on the grid the nine-time world champion had jumped to third by the first corner and second swiftly after as he chased down race leader Marc Marquez. Two laps of tense drama then followed with the two rivals swapping leads as they pushed each other to the limits. Marquez emerged the front-runner as the race settled with Rossi following close behind. The Italian was unable to match the race leader’s pace but was able to stay ahead of the chasing riders. As the last laps ran down Dani Pedrosa closed in to challenge for second but with the gap dropping to just two tenths of a second Rossi held on for a well deserved second place.

Teammate Jorge Lorenzo’s 200th Grand Prix race had a less than perfect start as he dropped from second to fifth off the line. The local hero was quick to recover, taking two positions to slot into third behind Rossi and join the drama filled opening laps. With 16 laps to go Lorenzo was still able to maintain a half second gap to his teammate in front however the distance began to slowly increase as his grip levels began to drop dramatically. With six laps remaining he could no longer hold off following rider Pedrosa, dropping to a lonely fourth place that was his to the line, nearly 20 seconds ahead of Andrea Dovizioso in fifth.

Rossi remains in third position with his podium finish, now on 61 points and 11 behind Pedrosa in second. Lorenzo’s fourth place finish moves him up two places in the standings to fifth with a total of 35 points, ten behind Dovizioso in fourth.

The team now enjoy a well-earned two-week break before heading to France for the Le Mans race on the 18th May.

Valentino Rossi2nd / +1.431 / 27 laps

“I’m very happy because Jerez is one of my favourite circuits and race weekends, also for the people around the track and the atmosphere. We worked very well during the weekend and improved the bike, also this morning and it looked like I could be quite competitive for the race. I chose the extra hard tyre on the front, it was a risk but I was worried about the medium at the end of the race. The condition of the track today was very bad, the bike slid everywhere and the front kept closing, I think I did a great job, I did a good start and I tried to stay with Marc but it was impossible. After that I tried to keep my pace and push where I could and where my bike was well balanced and I kept quite constant. At the end Dani arrived but I had just a little bit of desperation in the last lap to stay in front. I’m very proud and happy to arrive in second position here as it was 2010 the last time I stood on the Jerez podium.”

“I did a bad start today, this weekend we didn’t have a good practice start in any session. The race was worse than I expected and my physical condition was worse than I expected also so we need to work more on that and wait for our moment.”

“It’s great to see Vale riding on form and back on the podium here in Jerez. It was a tough race and he really earned the podium. Tyres were always going to be critical here with the temperatures this weekend, he chose the hard front and that paid off. Unfortunately for Jorge his 200th Grand Prix didn't end as we had hoped for him. The conditions were very challenging and he was unable to keep his pace to the end of the race. We will take our learnings from today and use them for our testing here tomorrow. We will work to prepare for the Le Mans race as best as possible and be ready to go to France in two weeks.”

NOTES

The extended imagery from today's Race at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit (Spain) is available on www.yamahamotogp.com.

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Fan of all racing, but the bikes are what makes the adrenaline flow and the rush set in.
In what started as an attempt to share and scrapbook my racing catalog, I have since streamlined my coverage to give a more updated and behind the scenes look at motorcycle racing from the eye of my camera and from my perspective as a long-time fan.
So stay tuned for coverage of AMA Pro Flat Track and Road Racing, along with some of the other series that showcase the great sport of 2-wheeled high speed racing!
You can e-mail me @: stuman714@yahoo.com